Yes , turns out today I had the mechanic pull it off and sure enough
it has a small chunk missing from the 1st and 2nd Cylinders.

Can I temporarily put some peratex on there till I decide what to do?

What is the best way to deal with this? Repair it or replace the
entire engine?

R

On Aug 18, 2008, at 11:22 PM, The Westy man wrote:

> You are likely having the dreaded gasket trouble, but you would only
> know if you take off that bent cover, to see exactly where it comes
> from.
> Zoltan
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Stewart" <robertmstewart@MAC.COM
> >
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Monday, August 18, 2008 7:51 PM
> Subject: A What is this Type of Question....
>
>
>> So I have owned 2 vanagon's and only with my second one amy I taking
>> an interest to know what hell all the parts are in the engine bay, I
>> am not a mechanic nor have I ever tried to do anything with the
>> engine
>> other that set the idle, put fluids in it and install a headlight
>> wiring upgrade for higher voltage bulbs.
>>
>> Well I was looking in the engine bay and noticed that on my power
>> steering pump there is a connector on the top which goes to the power
>> steering container I think, now on the pumps connector on top of it I
>> see 2 metal prongs that look like they are suppose to be connected to
>> some type of electrical device but nothing is there, does anyone know
>> what the heck I am describing and what this and what it is suppose to
>> be connected to?
>>
>> For the other question I dreading the answer but here it is..
>>
>> I am looking under the van and have noticed a small puddle under the
>> van, its coolant. I can see when I look at the engine bay that the
>> coolant hose that comes over the transmission where it connects
>> behind
>> the left of the engine has a small leak somewhere. I can see wet
>> coolant there but not any kind of major leak. The entire hose feels
>> very soft, so I am replacing it this week, the problem is that when I
>> am under the engine I see the following:
>>
>> 1. Coolant is forming a slow tiny, tiny drip on the edge of the left
>> bottom tin then hitting the floor. (what is this? do I have a gasket
>> leak somewhere and require the dreaded head gasket job?
>>
>>
>> 2. While down there I noticed that the left Tin does not fully cover
>> the rods as I see what appear to be springs under the cover. I
>> pressed
>> on the cover to see if it was loose and it was firmly in place. Why
>> is
>> there a gap between the tin and outer black cover? Is something wrong
>> or is the Tin just bent out of shape?
>>
>> TIA.
>>
>> Rob
>> NYC & Bloomingburg NY
>> 88 Vanagon automatic 237,000 miles
>>
>>
>> --
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>>
>